Durst Restructures Textile Printing Segment With New Segment Manager

Italian wide-format printer manufacture Durst announces the restructuring of its industrial textile printing, with Dr. Stefan Kappaun as the new manager of that segment. As such, he will be responsible for the strategic direction the company takes in making products to service the home textiles, clothing and accessories markets.

Dr. Kappaun is a member of Durst Group’s executive team and heads the ink business for all segments as executive vice president Inks & Fluids. A technical chemist with a focus on polymer science as well as being a trained business economist, Kappaun is an expert in materials science and the development and marketing of ink systems for digital inkjet printing. In his new role, Kappaun will also serve as the connecting link to the large-format segment, which takes over soft signage and fabrics in the portfolio.

Kappaun’s knowledge in materials science and developing ink systems is particularly important within industrial textile printing, the company says, because in contrast to other industries, different materials, pre- and post-treatments, and large-scale process influences represent a daily challenge in digital textile production. At the same time, digital textile printing is one of the largest growth markets for inkjet technologies.

“The digital textile printing market is fragmented in itself and we see different speeds and developments worldwide,” Kappaun says. “While new, non-industry service providers often already have digital know-how but less textile experience, the traditional manufacturers are masters of textile finishing, but not all analog processing steps can be transferred directly to digital textile printing. Durst has a comprehensive ecosystem to serve the different requirements and to support customers in the digital transformation. Our printing systems are designed for industrial productivity, but also offer profitability from the very first meter. The prerequisite for this is mastery of the pre-treatment and post-treatment steps as well as the digital workflow, in which Durst focuses on the consulting and training services in the new Customer Experience Center at the Durst headquarters in Brixen (Italy).”

Dr. Kappaun succeeds Martin Winkler, who will take on the role of global sales manager, Textile Printing. The textile printing team will also be supplemented by the experienced service technician, Martin Oberparleitner, who is the new junior product manager, Textile Printing.

The company also says that new sales and service structures are being implemented in the core markets.